Battle of Springfield

The Battle of Springfield was an American Revolutionary War battle that occurred on 23 June 1780 in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey. The British and Hessian forces attempted, for a second time, to attack George Washington's Continental Army as it camped at Morristown, but they were repelled at Springfield, ending the British designs on New Jersey.

Following the defeat at the Battle of Connecticut Farms, the British and Hessian army of Wilhelm von Knyphausen decided to once more attempt to attack the Americans at Morristown. Knyphausen's 6,000-strong corps advanced for Elizabethtown Point, overwhelming the American outposts at Elizabethtown. Nathanael Greene's 1,500 Continentals and 500 New Jersey militia stood in the path of the British, and they defended two roads. The British advance was halted by a fierce American defense, with chaplain James Caldwell bringing up a load of hymn books so that the Continentals could use the pages for musket wadding; he famously shouted, "Give 'em Watts, boys!" The British were ultimately forced to retreat to Staten Island, ending British ambitions in New Jersey.